I have always believed in “breaking bread” together to strengthen relationships and build community.
As a professor, I often brought homemade goodies to class for the students: chocolate chip cookies, pies, banana bread (with and without walnuts.) I used treasured family recipes from my grandmothers.
As a college newspaper adviser, I organized gatherings at the end of each semester to celebrate the editors’ successes, strengthen the bonds between them and set goals. We would gather at a local diner to support a family-owned business or in my backyard for a BBQ, complete with hula hoops.
Sharing a meal involves enjoying good food and conversation. And it’s good for mind, body and spirit.
I hosted two gatherings before our state’s lockdown: Pie Day, 3.14., and our book club. And then I was on my own.
In the time of sheltering in place and social distancing, I missed breaking bread with my friends. I missed gathering at a restaurant for a meal and conversation. I missed visiting friends and chatting over a beverage, catching up.
So I started baking–then cooking. I made pies, cookies, brownies, scones. I used tried-and-true family recipes and then started searching the Internet for new ones. I made yummy, spicy soup from an online recipe with fresh kale, sweet potatoes and ginger. I tried a new recipe for au gratin potatoes that I found on the Pioneer Woman‘s website.
And then I started sharing with my friends. I made socially distant deliveries. I would let my friends and neighbors know that I would drop by and I would leave the goodies on the doorstep. Frequently, my friends returned my dishes with goodies they had made. It was a glorious and satisfying pandemic version of breaking bread together.
I missed my distant friends, so I started mailing goodies in the United States Postal Service priority mail flat-rate packages and let our dedicated USPS workers make a whole new version of socially distant deliveries. I sent my friends in California a small box of nut chews to enjoy with their iftar meal during Ramadan. I sent friends in D.C. and New York City my popular chocolate chip cookies.
It brought me so much joy to know that they were surprised and delighted to receive a homemade treats. My friends in California have grown children who remembered with fondness baking cookies with me when they were young. We topped old memories with new ones.
My deliveries brought us together as it reminded us of meals shared in the distant past. And I could support the local businesses that remained open as well as our fabulous USPS in downtown Newport, where the front window had a homemade sign constructed of individual letters in red, white and blue that read “We are here for you.”
With my pandemic baking and socially distant deliveries, I created my own version of the CARES Act.
